The Rose and The Thorn: A Beauty and the Beast Retelling
by AmethystStarr - MJLolanaK
Summary: While this is not your average Beauty and the Beast story, fans of the original tale and the Disney classic will enjoy this retelling. I plan on publishing this as a full-fledged novel in the future, so be be sure to follow and fave to stay up to date on both the story and the novel! Rated M for some sexual themes, violence, and some graphic descriptions.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

A man, curse to wear the face of his crimes, a young woman, enchanted from birth; these two thrown together by a war of good versus evil. Can true love overcome enchantments and end a war that has been waged for a hundred years? Only time will tell...

Chapter 1

~Once Upon A Time~

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful young woman named RoseBelle. She was blessed with a heart full of compassion, a talent for the arts, and an enchantment unlike any other. She was the daughter of an enchantress and therefore endowed at birth with special powers. It was prophesied that she would be the key to ending the war that has ravaged the lands of Arturia and BlackHeathe, and the whole of the Land of Astoria, for hundreds of years. However, if she is to give up herself to love a man, she must give up her life as well. But little does anyone know what magic True Love can overcome. In order that she might live when her mother died, she was given to Melodie Castlebarre, Crown Princess of Arturia, who lives at the edge of the Black Forest called Englewood, as her mother died at the feet of the princess. Melodie ordered a monument be erected in the family cemetery so that the enchantress might be remembered. RoseBelle grew in grace and beauty and became beloved by everyone who knew her, except perhaps by her sisters who were fiercely jealous of her beauty and powers...

As she sat in the parlor reading, RoseBelle became bored with her sisters as they went through the tonnage of fabric their father had brought back from the far east. They were concerned with nothing but themselves and she was sick of it. She rose to leave the parlor, the central hub of the household.

"And just where do you think you're going?" said the eldest Felicitie.

"Riding, that's where," Rose said over her shoulder, not bothering to look back. She kissed her mother's cheek and pranced out of the parlor.

"Ungrateful wretch. Her father brings her things from the east and she's nonplussed to even look at them," Michelle added.

"She is grateful in her own way. Her father brought her that horse per her request and that's enough for her," Melodie tutted, not looking up from her embroidery. She knew her youngest daughter well. Despite her vast difference to her other children and the fact she wasn't of her own blood, she loved RoseBelle the most because she was like half of herself and half of her husband put together. Felicitie and Michelle huffed and went back to examining the fabrics and making their orders for the dressmakers. Neither of the girls liked their youngest sister much, not because she was adopted, but because she was so very different from them. Not only was she the most beautiful, but her character was completely their opposite. She never met a stranger, she held compassion for everyone and never thought of things for herself, but for others. And then of course were her powers. She had an enchanted voice that could calm anyone and everything. Animals loved her, the servants loved her, even strangers loved her; and for that her sisters could barely stand her. Now Rose's twin brothers were the complete opposites of their sisters. They had been raised by their father to have compassion for all and enmity for none. They doted on their little sister and protected her fiercely. Jean-Rene worked with their father in the merchant trade, while Henrie trained in the King's guard. They were home whenever they could be to spend time with RoseBelle and their father. The four of them were inseparable and it was quite a sight for the servants to see four grown men doting over Rose. They often smiled to themselves and chuckled at how silly the men looked hoisting Rose up on their shoulders and playing chicken. Rose's father Jeffrey was in his study with his good friend John Hart and couldn't be coaxed out, so Rose had come out to the stable yard to find Jean-Rene and Henrie locked in a battle for champion of the bulls-eye.

"Hold!" Rose cried as she ran across the grass between her brothers and their targets.

"Rose! For heaven's sake, we could have shot you, little rabbit!" Henrie admonished, dropping his bow.

"Well, I wasn't going to wait for you to be finished! I want to ride my new horse, silly man!" Rose laughed heading into the stables. The brothers ran after her.

"Would you like us to ride with you?" Jean-Rene asked. Taking the pretty gold saddle from her and lifting it onto the champagne mare's back.

"Not today. I think I want to be alone. It's a beautiful day and I want to listen to nature instead of your incessant prating on. Besides, I'm twenty-four now. I think I can ride on my own," she said, taking the tack from her brother. She let it float from her hand and attach itself to the horse on it's own. She never tired of teasing her brothers with her powers.

"Come on Jean, I can see we're not wanted here!" Henrie said, rolling his eyes and teasing right back. Rose caught their arms,

"Another time perhaps, My Dears," she kissed them each on the cheek and they beamed back at her. "Go on and get back to your games, now..." They whooped and ran back to the grassy area that was beginning to turn white with the first light snow of the season. Rose finished saddling her horse, mounted and trotted off towards her favorite woodland path. The snow was being filtered down through the forest by the trees and it was almost magical as two red winter birds lit on her horses head, tweeted their hellos, then flew on. Rose smiled as she watched the animals in their winter preparations, hiding their last few acorns, lining nests with the last few leaves. Then something caught her eye. A silvery white streak passed across her path. She could just make out the form of a wolf. Wolves had long since left these woods and the whole for Arturia for that matter. They'd been forced to move to the mountain areas because of over-hunting. What was a lone wolf doing in these parts,

"Whadayou suppose?" she wondered aloud to herself.

King Ludovic sat shrouded in a black cloak in the middle of the clearing, waiting for his guest to arrive. He was late. Ludovic heard a noise off to his left and turned to see his guest standing there with folded arms, his own black cloak wrapped around him. His hood was up, but through two holes in the top curved a set of horns, slender and curved like those of a buffalo, only they had been etched into with strange symbols. Ludovic smiled an oily smile at the man.

"Ah, Adrian, so good of you to come-"

"Dispense with the pleasantries. It is not good, and I was forced to come, or have you forgotten?"

"I see time has not changed your snippy attitude, my son..."

"I am not your son and you are not my father!" Adrian roared, seeming to fly instantly to loom over the king. The king made a small motion with his hand and Adrian flew backwards into a tree, hitting hard with a great thud. Ludovic waited a moment and let Adrian regain his breath. The cloak hood had fallen back to reveal Adrian's long, dark, gently curling hair and a second set of horns nestled at the base of the others, this pair fat and curved into themselves like the horns of a ram. Adrian's face was dark, a full beard hiding the lower portion of his face except for the edge of his upper lip which was curved like that of a great lion. Above is beard he wore an inky, beautifully damasked mask that covered the upper entirety of his face. His steel blue eyes shot daggers at the king who smirked at him. He hadn't realized the man had become to powerful and it slightly scared him.

"Now, if you've finished with your temper tantrum we shall get down to business. I have called you here to offer you a deal. If you agree to it, it shall absolve you of all of your past crimes and you will be allowed back into BlackHeathe and it's surrounding lands. In fact you would be welcomed back into our kingdom as the Crown Prince you were meant to be," Ludovic said, picking at his glove. Adrian stood and brushed himself off,

"And what must I do to be so greatly rewarded?" he inquired, a heavy layer of sarcasm frosting his words.

"Bring me something that I need. It doesn't matter how you get it, just bring it to me and all will be forgiven." For a brief fraction of a second, Adrian was tempted by this proposition,

"You must tell me exactly what it is you need, so that I may know better how to acquire it,"

"I must tell you nothing. But I will tell you that it is a girl, the youngest daughter of the Crown Princess and her husband. I don't care what you have to do to get her, just bring her to me and you'll have your reward. She is the key to-" but Adrian cut him off.

"I don't care what you need her for, I won't do it. She doesn't deserve to be ripped from her family. I don't know your plans, but I don't need to because I know you. I know your evil and I will have no part of it. The girl should not be witness to such depravity and my kingdom isn't worth it!" he said, nearly through his teeth.

"Your kingdom?! Your kingdom? BlackHeath is mine, you forfeit your ownership of it when you took your sisters and fled upon your mother's death. BlackHeathe and all the lands of Astoria will be mine whether you help me or not. In fact I rather hope you do try to stop me, then I'll have no more excuses not to kill you. If I were you, I'd run very far away, you seem rather adept at doing that. Leave Astoria for if I see you again I will surely kill you where you stand," he said rising and moving off. He fell silent as he reached the tree line and slunk off into the darkness. Adrian was left on his own, rubbing his tender back. It would heal quickly, he knew, as most injuries did, but it didn't stop it from hurting. He was disgusted at what the man had asked of him. He had promised his mother the day she died that he would change. He would strive to right the wrongs he'd done whatever way he could, and he'd done some of that. Stealing from the Black Knights to repay the people he'd caused the most harm to. He knew money wouldn't bring them back their loved ones, nor would it heal the injuries they suffered, but he did what he could until he had been run out every village and town in BlackHeathe and the Black Cliffs entirely. If Ludovic was going to go after this girl, Adrian would do what he could to stop him. He whistled and Zephyr, his silver-white wolf came to his side. He whispered to it and sent it on it's way.

Rose had gently kicked her horse on to follow the wolf, who snaked through the forest. Rose had already lost track of where she was and had unknowingly gone from Englewood, the familiar woods, into the Black Forest, a darker, denser wood that was foreign to her. She'd never been in this part of the woodlands before, not even with her father or brothers, she knew, yet she followed the wolf's path until it came to a small stream. It followed it's edge until the stream emptied out into a wide, yet fairly shallow river. In the middle of the wide river there was a large island covered in tall green grass. The area was rather breathtaking with his crystal clear, green-blue hued water, the stately evergreens that shone in the sun a deep emerald green, but Rose didn't really notice it, she was far too preoccupied by the solitary figure astride a magnificent horse. Both rider and horse were swathed in black. The rider had great horns emanating from his helmet she supposed, and he looked imposing on the great black beast that was his horse. They stood almost frozen out on the island, the horse grazing as it's rider sat atop him, still and quiet. Even from as far away as she was, Rose could see that he was a fearsome sight to behold in his dark finery accented by a black mask. His deep purple scarf gently moved in the light breeze and snowfall. While he might have been frightening to some, he appeared rather melancholy to Rose. She could feel a sadness emanating from him, but before she had a chance to ride forward several knights on horseback emerged from the edge of the forest dressed in dark crimson armour. They came from the far end of the island where it was closest to the forest's edge and they rode hard, quickly overtaking and surrounding the man in black who remained still. The blood knights drew their sabers, forcing the man in black to draw his own in defense. Without a word the knights laid into him. Not a fair fight in the least, Rose thought. She sensed that the man was in no way the evil of those gathered there, added to the fact that he was severely outnumbered, Rose used her powers to create a distraction. A thick mist rose from the river, and around the skirmish came sounds of ferocious animals. She even went so far as to create the illusion of some dark creature pulling one man from his horse and dragging him to the river. A trumpet sounded and as swiftly as they'd come, the knights fell back to where they had emerged and returned from whence they had come. Rose followed their retreat with her eyes. The man was nowhere to be seen. He must have fallen from his dark horse, out of her site in the tall grasses. Crossing this side of the river on which she had watched from the edge of the trees, Rose saw that the man on the ground and thought he must be gravely injured. Rose rushed forward to find him, dressed in strange raiment, wounded and lying on the ground barely breathing. She rushed to his side and tried to help him. He was quickly aroused but pushed her away, keeping his face from her view, though she already had seen he wore a mask. The minute he laid eyes on her, he knew who she was and knew that she was not safe there.

"I don't need your help, my lady. These woods are not safe. Gypsies and pirates from Blackheathe and the Black Cliffs tarry around these waters. A lady of your status should not be here unaccompanied."

"But sir, you are injured, please return with me to my home and I shall arrange for your needs to be tended," Rose insisted. She'd realized that his horns were not on a helmet but where a part of his skull, yet it didn't frighten her in the least.

"No, thank you, my lady. It is only superficial and I heal quickly, by enchantment. My home is not far as the wolf runs. Please, return to your home where you shall be safe, you are in grave danger here." and he took her dainty hand in his large black leather clad one and kissed it, his tone turning from reassuring to insistent, "Go now." With these words he suddenly and rather nimbly swung up into the ornate saddle and rode off, his cloak billowing in the breeze behind him. He swiftly galloped to the end of the island, across the river, and disappeared through the dark trees. Realizing that the white wolf had also disappeared, Rose looked after him in a moment, then made her way back to her home by means of a location spell. A mournful lone wolf cry followed her as she left the river.

The sun was just about to set when RoseBelle arrived back at her family's estate Castlebarre Manor. Immediately she sensed something was strangely wrong. There were no servants to meet her at the gate, no one working in the fields, and no footman at the stable. She tied up her horse and with no thought for her own safety she rushed into the rear atrium. She was shocked beyond belief to find bloody footprints in the hall and blood smears across the walls, a few servants lying pale, dead from whatever struggle there had been. She followed the blood trails and footprints which led her to the family's private sitting room on the second level. Inside her parents and siblings bodies were strewn across the room; each had been brutally murdered, their bodies desecrated in the most horrendous fashion. There were signs that her mother and sisters had been raped, and her father and brothers brutally beaten before their entrails were strewn across the floor. She had no time for tears for she heard a noise back downstairs. Cautiously she crept out onto the landing to see what it might be. Through the great window she could see figures, dressed in the same crimson armour, the same crimson sash, as the knights she had seen attack the mysterious man in the mask. They had two servants on their knees and were holding them by the collars, demanding information from them. A few knights were making their way from the front of the main hall towards the staircase, fanning out around the mansion to make sure there was no one left alive. They had remnants of drying blood on their armour. These men must have somehow doubled back after attacking the man at the great river, or perhaps one or the other had been a scouting party. Rose rushed to her father's side, grabbing he and Henrie's swords from the floor where thy had fallen. She readied herself to fight to the death. Her father and brother's had trained her well in the art of swordplay, but she was unsure if she could match these devils who essayed against her family since they'd been overcome themselves. She went back to the landing and stood ready. The one who appeared to be the leader of the blood knights mounted the staircase, a low growl in his throat as his dark eyes fell upon her, piercing her heart with frozen fear from beneath the blood red cloak hood that doubled as a mask. He laughed at her holding the swords and with a wave of his hand the sword flew out of her hand and beyond her reach. Rose stood solidly, unable to move, unable to use her powers as the man approached. Her eyes were locked with his as he grabbed her arms and flung her to the ground, just as he had the sword.

Suddenly there was a sound like the ferocious roar or a bear or lion and a figure in black pounced on the man in the blood red cloak, sending him flailing to the ground floor. Somehow Rose recognized the mysterious man from the river underneath the blackness of his robes. Her eyes darted from the man in black, to the man in red, to the window. Black streaks swirled around the men outside as they fell to the ground. Their dying screams echoed in Rose's ears as she turned her gaze back to the two men on the ground. She cautiously crept down the staircase, eyes always on the men as they struggled. The man in black rose and with a swirl of his cape hurled himself into the midst of four of the blood knights who had entered the mansion from the rear of the estate. Rose's eyes fell upon the white face of their leader in the blood red cloak. His features were distorted in a freakish grin and his eyes wide with insane fear, blood covered his lower jowls, his neck, and the front of his cloak and armour. A hand touched hers and she shrunk from it, turning quickly to face her attacker. She found only a dark and beautiful woman in luxurious black fur standing there. She put a perfectly manicured finger to her lips, her long nails gleaming against her blood red lips, and bade Rose come with her. She nodded, sensing a familiarity in the woman's dark eyes. The two women, one blonde, one raven-haired, exited the front of the mansion, stepping over pale faced men in blood stained armour. Another woman, red-haired, dressed in the same luxurious fur as her sisters joined them once they were outside. Silently, stealthily they made their way around to the stables. Their brother staggered out of the rear entrance of the house,

"Bring her with us, she is no longer safe here anymore," he said in a strained yet gentle voice. The sisters nodded and were about to take her by the arms, when their brother stumbled and nearly collapsed. Rose broke free of the women's grasp and hastened to her rescuer's side and helped to support him. He allowed her help him this time, putting his arm around her shoulders; in a flash, they were suddenly transported to the entrance of a dark Gothic mass of intricately carved stone. It loomed over their heads, framed with an ethereal light cast by a clouded moon. It stood out against the black, yet starry sky like a shadow of a thorny giant, it's spires and buttresses jutting out like tendrils or horns. Before Rose knew it they were inside the castle, standing in the middle of a huge lavishly decorated baroque great room. The sisters had removed her wet cloak and wrapped her in fur, sitting her down in front of the hearth. A fire burned there, and it's light cast dancing shadows across the walls and draperies of the room. The silvery white wolf she had seen earlier curled up next to the chair that his master had collapsed in.

"My sisters will see you to your room."

"My room?"

"You shall stay here in safety for as long as you need."

"Thank you, my lord. You are most kind, but I should go to my kinsman. They will be worried for me. I have high connections in the royal house of Arturia, and they can..."

"They may have been responsible for the massacre at your home, Princess. Let me warn you, I have seen with these very eyes, atrocities committed by the closest of kin. There are rumors of treachery in King Anton's court," he knew Ludovic had to have gotten his information from somewhere in Arturia's royal halls. "You shall remain here, I will protect you, but only if you remain within the grounds of the castle... " he paused "...I am not kind, my lady, I do this only because of the help you offered me at the great river; I never leave a gentle offering unrequited, nor a wronged spirit dissolute. I only ask in return that you would offer your gifts and companionship to my sisters, I ask nothing but a small request for me. I have heard tales of your artistic gifts and I wish to know then for myself." The sisters returned to the room and the golden haired sister, Varitie offered Rose a chalice of warm mulled wine while the raven-haired sister, Illyria began to dress her brother's wounds.

"Ask whatever you will of me, my lord. I will gladly give it you," she paused and took a sip from the warm chalice, "I would like to thank you for saving my life, only you know more about me, than I do about you. Pray what is your name?" Rose asked as she sat on the floor, stroking the wolf's soft fur. The dark lord would have loved nothing more than to tell her who he really was, but his past had made him an outcast, a monster in the eyes of the Arturians, especially the royal family.

"I am a disgrace to my kin, a monster," he winced, something akin to a growl forming deep in his throat, "That hurt, witch!" he bellowed as Illyria backed away, teeth bared, hissing like a cat. "My own sister, out to maim me as well," he muttered to no one in particular. Rose had already noticed the gleaming silvery white fangs bore by the lord and his sisters. She had only heard stories of their kind, but never seen them in person.

"Perhaps you'd like to do it yourself, My Prince?!" Illyria spat back caustically, throwing the damp rag in his face.

"Insolent, foolish-"

"Allow me," Rose said quietly, setting her chalice aside and taking the damp cloth from him.

"You don't have to..." The look in Rose's eyes stopped him from speaking any further. The fact that she even met his eyes was enough to surprise him.

"I want to." She placed the cloth in the bowl and wrung it out, placing it lightly on his arm, without so much as flinching at his marred appearance. The heat of the pain vanished at her cooling touch, a soothing sensation beginning to move through his arm and shoulder, deep into his muscles. Her powers were far beyond what even the related tales could have told, and the dark lord was quite astonished. It relaxed him as she hummed a beautifully haunting tune, cleaning his wounds as the sensation rushed over his body. The tune was strangely familiar to him, yet he was so relaxed he couldn't focus to think where he'd heard it before. Rose studied the marks on his fore arm, bicep &amp; shoulder. There were strange symbols, words, and pictures scarred and inked into his skin. Some were darker than others and many were quite frightful to behold, yet she never wavered in the flow of her powers of healing and soothing.

The dark lord and his sisters were creatures of the night, Night Walkers some called them, but some lands to the far north and east called them Vampyres. Either name would be enough to strike fear into anyone's heart. But Rose was not anyone. Even as a small child, everyone in the kingdom knew her as the princess who never met a stranger, a true "People's Princess." Through her eyelashes she gazed at the man's masked face. From beneath it's smooth covering she could see the same strange marks beneath his close cropped beard. His lip had a slight cleft that led to his nose almost like that of a lion. But his eyes were what caught her attention most. They were of a silvery blue that she'd never seen before and they studied her with cold calculating precision. Yet somehow they seemed to warm to her and the corners of his lips to turn up as she sang the last verse of her song. His arm was well cleaned and bandaged and Varitie took the bowl and cloth from her, carrying it back to the kitchen as Bianca, the ginger-haired sister, brought out some steaming meat pies for Rose. She laid a gold napkin across her lap and set the plate next to the chalice.

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry...I feel a little ill, actually..." she said, setting the napkin aside and rising. She took a step and wobbled, gripping the arm of the sofa to steady herself as her knees began to give out. Adrian was there in a flash and had picked her up, carrying her up the stairs as Illyria led the way to a lovely room fit for any princess. Adrian laid her on the bed and showed her a bell.

"Ring this if you need anything. Rest now, you are safe here."

"Thank you," Rose said a little weakly, the room beginning to spin. Adrian squinted at her behind his mask as Illyria felt her forehead with the back of her hand.

"A slight fever. I'll make some tea for her. She'll rest quietly then," she whispered to her brother to reassure him. He nodded and turned to follow her, but Rose caught his sleeve,

"What am I to call you? The Black Prince who saved my life?" she asked with a slight smile. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he did not smile.

"Adrian will do just fine, Princess. Now rest. You are safe here," he said. Taking her hand and placing it beneath the fur blanket. Rose nodded weakly. She drank the tea that Illyria gave her then fell fast asleep. She woke in the night crying, memories of her attack and grief for her family surfacing in uncontrollable sobbing fits. Illyria and Varitie sat with her, letting her cry her grief out for as long as she needed.

Adrian tried to sleep, but the sobbing wouldn't allow him to. It wasn't that it was loud or irritating, but that it was beyond pitiful, like the crying of a kitten who lost it's mother. He tried to drown the sound out with the pillows, but it ate at him, like a cold finger down his spine, chilling him all the way through. He finally got up and locked himself in his workshop, but he could still hear her sobs. He left his workshop and went to the bedroom that housed the enchanted wardrobe. There he placed his hands on the handles, made a wish, then opened it. A small clockwork orchestra began to play music and it seemed to momentarily sooth him as he carried them back to his workshop and began to work. If she stayed, he would show her the wardrobe and allow her to use it, should she want to. For the time being the music covered most of RoseBelle's piteous sobs and he could work in peace.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose finally slept after a few cups of the tea. Her fever had spiked during her crying fit, but she was finally cool and slept soundly til morning. Even then she slept on and Adrian feared she had exhausted herself for too much the night before. He peeked into her room to see her sound asleep. The sight moved him in a manner he'd never felt before. He wondered at the sleeping angel beneath the soft white and grey fur, her auburn curls falling all over her shoulders. He was mesmerized by her and he smiled as she sighed in her sleep. He creeped to the foot of her bed and leaned on the post, just gazing at her. He cautiously inched forward to sit on the foot of her bed to get a better look at her. She stirred and woke.

"Do you often stand at the foot of people's bed and watch them sleep, Lord Adrian?" Rose asked with a slight smile as she stretched a bit. The question caught him off-guard and he stood abruptly.

"Wha..I-uh..no, not usually. I trust you slept well when you finally settled." he said, moving around back around the post, further away from her.

"Finally, yes. I must apologize for keeping you all awake, I didn't mean to interfere..."

"You had a heavy heart, and your grief was fresh. You have nothing to apologize for. " His own words startled him and he turned his back to her. "I shall-um...have one of my sisters bring some clothes for you, then you may join us for lunch if you wish." he said, picking at the cuff of his glove.

"That's very kind of you. Thank you...May I ask you something?"

"Yes," he said turning back to her.

"Why do you wear a mask and gloves? Is it because you are afraid of frightening someone?...someone like me?" she asked softly, sitting up in bed. Her question was innocent enough, yet it again caught him off-guard.

"No!...well...maybe" he thought for a moment on the best way to answer her. "I'm scarred, from things I've done in my past. Things that are far too hideous and grotesque to mention. I'm trying to make those things right, but the world seems set against me. I live here, far from anyone else so that no one will have to see me."

"Then why wear a mask if you and your sisters are the only ones around. I'm sure their love has blinded them to the scars and they only see the real you. As for me, you needn't worry. I'm not afraid-"

"You should be. I am a beast," he snapped harshly, cutting her off. But Rose didn't flinch,

"You said yourself you are trying to make the things you've done right again. You aren't a beast or a monster. You saved my life and kept me safe, and for that I am more than grateful. If that doesn't at least begin to turn your spirit around, I fear you may be lost for good. But I will refuse to believe that for as long as there is hope left in the world!"

Adrian glanced at her over his shoulder, not sure how to take what she'd said,

"...then you are either a fool or an angel..." he muttered to himself.

"Pardon?"

"My sisters will see to your food and clothing," he said, a bit abruptly, then turned on his heel and left.

When he had gone Rose took the time to explore her room. It was decorated in shades of white, gold, and orchid. Everything was carved with intricate designs of roses, swans, and peacocks and gilt at every turn. The bed itself was built like a giant swan boat with cherubs and more swans and peacocks looking down on her from the canopy above. Intricate lace hung round the canopy, the windows, and off of every little table and shelf around the room. She felt like she'd wandered into fairy land. A few moments later Illyria and Bianca entered with gowns and jewels and flowers for her hair.

"Oh I don't need all that finery," she said as the women laid out the gowns on the bed and the jewels and flowers on the dressing table, "I'm really very simple when it comes to things like this."

"Our brother insists. You should be wary to oblige him in his requests. Besides, you are a princess and a princess should dress thus," Bianca said with a little toss of her head as she smoothed out a mauve and maroon striped taffeta gown. Illyria gave her sister a look and it shut her up. Rose choose a simple blue satin gown and a single teardrop shaped amethyst necklace with matching earrings. There was only one small mirror edged in purple flowers that she could look in,

"If your brother does not approve, then I shall have to find somewhere else to stay," Illyria held a small circlet of white flowers and as about to put it atop Roses' curls, but decided to take a single white rose from it no bigger than a gold sovereign and tucked it just behind Rose's ear. Rose nodded her approval, but Bianca frowned. She never crossed her brother and strove to do everything she could for him, but Illyria was the eldest of the girls and she fought often with Adrian, sometimes physically with him if their tempers got the better of them as if often did. But aside from their tempers butting heads, she knew her brother better than he himself did sometimes and she could already tell there was something about this young woman that had worked it's way under his armour and was beginning to chink it away bit by bit. Bianca hung the gowns in the wardrobe and put the jewels away in a drawer of the dresser before making the bed and following Rose and Illyria down the stairs to lunch. As she descended the stairs, Rose could feel Adrian's eyes on her and could see him frowning behind his mask as she took the seat indicated by Illyria to Adrian's right hand. She acted as if nothing was wrong.

"You didn't wear the dress I chose for you. Why?" Adrian asked scowling.

"Good Morning, Varitie," Rose said, ignoring Adrian's comment, gaze, and bristle.

"Answer me!" he said, raising his voice to an almost shout.

"Don't shout, it's not polite. And I didn't feel like wearing it, that's why," she said, looking at him square in the eye, her confident chin lifted. He wasn't sure if he was upset that she hadn't chosen the dress and jewels he'd especially picked for her or upset that she dared to defy his wishes, or if it was simply because she'd chosen something so simple over the other, certainly more royal, gowns and jewels that he'd requested she'd wear. He was flustered and taken aback that she's dare speak to him in that manner.

"In the future, I suggest you do as I ask-"

"Or what? You'll kill me, leave me to the wolves, throw me out into the snow?," she laughed, "that would be absurd since you're the one who rescued me in the first place!"

"I'm beginning to wish I hadn't. You've caused enough trouble already," he muttered. Illyria kicked him under the table.

"I hope you finally got some rest last night,Princess " Varitie ventured, eying her brother who still sat staring at Rose.

"Please, call me Rose. And I did. Thank you for sitting up with me last night."

"Oh, it was nothing," Varitie practically giggled. Good lord a giggle, Adrian's head spun so quickly at the unfamiliar sound it startled them all.

"What in heaven's name was that ungodly noise you just made?!" he said. Varitie covered her mother with her hand, wide-eyed. Adrian shook his head and sighed, "If this keeps up, the Princess will have my entire household upended by the end of the week!" Adrian said, peering over the top of his wineglass.

"Don't mind our brother, Rose. He's simply forgotten what laughter sounds like," Illyria said, placing a hand on her brother's arm. He pulled it away from her,

"Speak for yourself, woman, and don't presume to know my mind." he said, a little more harsh than he'd meant to. He finished his glass of wine and left the table to stand by the window on the complete opposite side of the room. With the way the ceilings were vaulted, he could still hear the women's conversation, even if he couldn't make out expressions or catch their eyes.

"Your brother is strong willed and a bit stubborn, I observe. My father would say the same about me and I have-had two older brothers who were the same way. But oh were they ever fiercely loyal if anyone were to say or do something against myself and my two older sisters. They were not of my blood, but I love...loved them dearly..." her voice trailed as she picked at the food on her plate.

"If you don't like rabbit, I can get you something else, Dear," Bianca said, taking notice of her only nibbled-on plate.

"No, it's fine, I'm just not really that hungry right now," Rose answered, smiling at her.

"You know I think that's one reason we're so drawn to you, Dear," Varitie said.

"What is?" Rose asked, turning to the blonde seated next to her.

"You're sweet spirit. It seems just as f you're another sister come to bring happiness back into our lives even in the midst of the sadness of yours," she said, squeezing Rose's hand. Illyria smiled knowingly,

"Aye, I think you're right, Varitie. She speaks her name very well, does she not, Adrian. Truth in every word." Adrian chuffed from across the room, but the corners of his lips turned up slightly. His sisters had a way of turning the tables on him and he usually found that he liked it when they did. He couldn't argue with Illyria, he'd always felt that their mother had known that her youngest would posses the gift of truth and so she was well named. Rose must be around the same age because they had become fast friends.

"Varitie, why don't you show her highness the castle. She may go anywhere she chooses. And if she fulfills whatever little requests I make of her during the day, she may choose a key from the tray..." he waved his hand in the direction of the table where there appeared a gilt tray with several keys on it, "...to unlock whatever room it corresponds to that evening. The only exception being the West Wing. No one may enter there without my permission-"

"But why?-" Rose started, but Adrian cut her off again.

"It is forbidden. See that you learn that well, Princess." His words were slightly harsh as he ascended the stairs and disappeared down one of the halls. Silently Rose followed him with her eyes. Something about him made her want to know him better, to peel away his harsh exterior and find the real man beneath. Varitie took her hand and practically pulled her out of the chair.

"You'll love the castle. It's so beautiful and mysterious!" she gushed, linking Rose's arm through hers as they hurried out of the main hall and down a corridor. They explored all over the castle, except for the rooms that were locked. There really wasn't all that much to see except for the art and tapestries that hung on the walls, all of which had a thick layer of dust covering them, making them harder to clearly make out. As she told her of the castle's history, how their mother had grown up there, Varitie and Rose became fast friends that day, growing close like sisters. Their frivolity was quickly ended as they came around a corner and ran headlong into Adrian who stood there with his arms folded across his chest, looking stern, but a tiny bit pleased that Rose's spirit seemed somewhat lighter than it had since arriving.

"Brother dear, you scared us!" Varitie cried, trying to contain her giggling.

"And just what have you two been up to all this time?" he asked sternly, the corner of his mouth tugging upward.

"Oh nothing, just showing our guest around the castle, just like you suggested. Though we may have poked a few suits of armour just to make sure there were no creatures or servants trapped inside...alright, we did do that, you know I can't lie, but we did save a clockwork maid who fell in one while trying to clean it!" Varitie smiled up at him.

"Very well. Go on and see if your sisters have need of you. I have something to discuss with our guest," Adrian said. Varitie smiled wider and went up on tiptoe to kiss her brother's cheek then ran off to find her sisters, blonde curls bouncing. Rose looked down at the carpet and played with her thumbnail. "You needn't look so fearful, Princess. I'm not going to bite you, I was merely teasing my sister as I have want to do on occasion...but not often," he paused and studied her, her eyes never leaving his face once she had lifted her head. She was brave, he'd give her that for sure. "Come...walk with me..."

"As you wish, My Lord," Rose said as he nodded back toward the way she and Varitie had just come. Rose fell instep beside him. Adrian clasped his hands behind his back as they walked slowly through the corridors. "You still grieve for your family?" he asked cautiously. Rose nodded,

"I feel I shall always grieve now that they are no longer with me. I was very close to them, my father and brothers especially. I loved my mother and sisters, but my sisters were prone to vanity and pettiness and constantly kept my father's merchants busier than they should have been bringing in all kinds of fabrics, and frivolities. They would spend hours in front of the glass primping to go out with their friends to social events. My brothers weren't like that. Jean-Rene helped father with the merchants and Henrie trained his own contingent of military men, but was home more often than not as it was really only a ceremonial position since my mother was the King's brother."

"King Anton is your uncle...interesting," Adrian mused aloud.

"Not really, he's just another family member to me, but still we-I respect his position and he does-did like to dote on my mother and I. Even with me being adopted, my parents and the king always took it in stride, but my sister give-gave me grief over it," she sighed heavily, "having to remember to use the past tense and not the present is tiresome..."

"I don't doubt it. Are you tired, Princess? We can rest if you need to," he asked quickly, turning to her and placing a hand on her arm, then catching himself and pulling his hand back.

"No, it's alright. I'm fine...but I do wish you would stop calling me Princess..." she answered.

"Forgive me, what would you like me to call you then?" Adrian searched her eyes.

"You may call me what you wish, just not Princess. RoseBelle if you will, or Rose, or even Belle...Henrie used to call me Belle..." her eyes drifted to the beam of light that flooded into the corridor from the window and she watched the specks of dust float in it. Adrian felt a bit of sympathy for her, losing her entire family in one senseless crime should be too much for one person to handle, especially one who seemed so delicate as she.

"I didn't mean to upset you. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Rose," he said quietly, resting against a table. They'd stopped in the middle of the corridor and Rose stood staring into middle space.

"You didn't," she smiled softly up at him. "There's no sense in trying to avoid speaking of something you can't change. Turning back the clock is beyond even my powers. Shall we continue?" Adrian nodded and they resumed their path down the corridor turning into the main hall after several minutes of silence. "You mentioned you wanted to discuss something with me?"

"Yes...you have powers, so you would know about these things-at least I would assume you would anyway. What do you know of curses? How do you get rid of them, undo them if you will?"

"I don't really know much about them. I assume you're speaking of your curse?"

"Not particularly," Adrian tried to shift the subject, "but curses in general, magic in general really. I have some power, but it's nothing compared to yours."

"You seem to know so much about me and I know nothing of you. Would you mind telling me about you first?" Rose said, resting her arms on the top of the chair she stood by. Adrian had moved to stand in front of the fireplace and had his back to her.

"It's none of your business..." he snapped, then caught himself. Rose saw his shoulders slump,

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit a nerve, I just meant-"

"I know what you meant...it's just that my story isn't a nice one, nor a good one," he said, turning and sinking into the chair on which she leaned. She moved around to sit on a cushion in front of him. She liked the way the reflection of the sun in the great hall filtered down and framed his face in strange shadow as it glinted off his dark brown tresses. "I wouldn't want to burden you with knowledge that might-might..."

"Might what? Make me hate you or be frightened of you?...I don't scare easily, as you might have gathered. You've been too kind to me to ever make me hate you or even dislike you, no matter what you tell me."

"I'm a beast-a monster-"

"Stop! You only call yourself that because someone once called you that a long time ago. None of that matters now. You're a human being and you should treat yourself thus." Adrian looked at her as if he couldn't even begin to understand her or what she said.

"How is it that you are so kind?" he breathed. Rose smiled at him and took his hand.

"I was always taught to never judge a book by it's cover, and thus never to judge people by the way they look or act before I get to know them. It's served me well all these years," she took hold of the cuff of his glove and started to pull it off. Adrian tried to stop her. "You forget, I healed your wounds the first night I came here, remember. I know what your arm and hand look like and I'm not frightened of it," she shushed him and continued to pull off his glove. She took his hand in hers and gently ran her fingers over it. "You know it irks me to see someone put upon or run themselves down just because someone once called them something or did something them that's in the past and completely unchangeable in the present, like you calling yourself a beast..." Even his fingers were scarred and his nails were like claws, but his hand was still thin and well muscled and Rose felt that they could still be tender despite their appearance. "...If you won't tell me about certain parts of your past, tell me about your childhood then and I'll tell you abut mine." Adrian sighed, just the feeling of her hand on his relaxed him and he nodded, relaxing his armour as well,

"Very well then, Belle," he smiled at the name and he saw Rose blush. "I'm the eldest of the four of us. My father was kin-noble lord..." he quickly covered his almost too-truthful words "...in the Black Cliffs and my mother a NightWalker, or what some call a Vampyre. Her name was Margueritte. She was the most beautiful woman in all of the land, but because of this many men coveted her and tried to steal her from my father. He was kind and he couldn't believe that men could be so wicked as to try and steal his wife away simply because she was beautiful. He loved her very much and tried to protect her and the four of us children, his little army, he called us. He taught us everything we know. He was my idol. I wanted to be just like him. But one day, an opposing lord challenged him saying that my mother had been unfaithful to him and was carrying his child. It was a lie, he knew it, we knew it, yet he still accepted the challenge and paid for it with his life. Our mother was indeed pregnant, but the man who'd killed my father made sure that the baby was never born. He married my mother and took all of my father's wealth, his lands and all of his possessions. He locked my mother away and warned that any man caught gazing at her would be put to death. He forced me and my sisters to do horrendous things. I tried to resist him, but I couldn't. The lord forced my own mother to put this curse on me and so I wear the face of an animal, scarred by every bad thing I've ever done in my life. He made me a laughing stock to the people of our home, the friends we grew up with, not to mention the things he did to my sisters. Those same friends we'd known for so long called me monster, devil-child, a beast...and it killed my mother to see and hear them treat us like that. When she died, her husband took it out on us. I took my sisters and we fled for our lives. We had nothing left there. My mother had told me of the place where she grew up, a castle, this castle, so we came here and here we've stayed ever since." Adrian looked from the fire, into which he'd been staring, down to Rose, who's face was streaked with tears. "Oh there now, I've upset you, Belle..." he sat forward and with his ungloved hand wiped the tears from her eyes. They burned, but he didn't stop til they were gone from her cheeks.

"That was so sad. But I understand you so much more now. Thank you for telling me, I know it was hard for you," she looked down at her hand and there were claw marks on it where he'd squeezed it.

"No, no! I have hurt you. I shouldn't have told you," he stood perturbed, shoving his glove back on over his claws. "It's late. Go to your room, I'll have your diner sent up."

"It's alright, really. You didn't hurt me..." Rose insisted.

"I did hurt you. I said go, now do it." He'd turned his face away from her and put his armour back up, there was no use trying to argue with him. She sighed and did as she was told. A clockwork servant brought in her dinner on a tray and she ate it in silence, wondering at how the little automaton could move and speak like a real creature, yet be made of nothing but metal, wood, and wire. It looked liked a candelabra with a face and arms and it spoke and moved just as if it were alive. Perhaps this was the little bit of magic Adrian had spoke of. When she went to bed, she dreamed of Adrian's past, his mother, the evil lord and wondered how anyone could be forced into cursing their own beloved child.

The next day after breakfast, Rose asked if Adrian would walk with her this time, outside in the garden. He agreed and they went. As they walked Rose named almost every single species of rose that grew there. Winter had just begun and the last of the summer roses were beginning to die. But the first of the winter roses were beginning to bud and open their hearty blooms.

"You told me of your family, now I shall tell you of mine," Rose said brushing some light snow off a bench.

"But you already have, have you not, about your sisters and brothers?" Adrian said, picking a light pink, burgundy tipped rose, removing it's thorns and placing it in Rose's hair. She smiled,

"I suppose I did, but you don't know everything. I was not their blood. They loved me and cared for me as if I were, but my mother was an enchantress, she died giving me to Melodie-my mother. I never saw her face, but I know somewhat what she looked like because of the story my mother told me of her and of some supposed prophecy about me. She had gold flecked red-brown hair with eyes that shone like turquoise sea-jewels. Mother said I have her eyes and mouth and the same manor of smiling. There was a monument she erected in her honour, there in the family cemetery."

"I saw it," Adrian said, his voice soft as he gazed at Rose's pained expression. "Please, you needn't talk of such things if it grieves you so," he said, placing a gloved hand over hers. She smiled softly down at his hand and gently pulled his glove off again.

"Your hand is so warm and strong. I wish you'd leave those silly gloves off, unless your hands are truly cold," she said, gently stroking his fingers. She loved the way her fingertips felt on his smooth claws and how they contrast to the thick hair on the back of his hand. He was almost scared by how easily she could relax him by doing that to his hand.

"Rose. I went back to your home the night I brought you here. I brought back a few things for you. Would you like to see them?" he asked, his voice almost a purr as her fingers continued to work on his hand.

"Oh yes, please," she said. With his ungloved hand he took hold of hers and led her around the garden wall to the stables. In the stall beside his great black stallion was the mare her father had given her, saddle and take still on her. "Oh Gypsy! He brought you back to me!" she said, caressing the mares silky champagne hide. Gypsy nickered at her and dropped her head on her shoulder. She even let Adrian stroke her nose with a finger. Rose lifted her hand and Gypsy's tack began to remove itself as a brush was lifted from a bucket by the door and began to brush her as if with invisible hands. Adrian was slightly taken aback. He was used to having to do everything with his hands rather than his lacking powers. He moved to the saddlebags that had already been hung on a hook on the wall. From inside he pulled a bundle.

"Here. I brought these back for you as well." He handed her the bundle and she sat on a low bench to open it. Inside was a small silver musical box with a few pieces of her mother's jewelry in it, a framed photo of her family and both her father and her mother's wedding rings. She had no idea how he got them, but she was overwhelmed that he had. When she remained silent, he feared he had upset her. She cried silent tears, then suddenly she fairly jumped into Adrian's arms, flinging her own around his neck,

"Oh thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate you doing this! You're so kind... Thank you..." she couldn't contain her emotions and started to cry again. Adrian had been so shocked by her actions that he couldn't recover. Finally when he did, he pulled her off of him and took a step back,

"You're welcome, Princess...Rose...I only wish I'd arrived sooner..." he said, his voice trailing as he saw the look in her eyes.

"Oh no, you did what you could, when you could. You have no idea how much it means to me, really you don't."

"Well...you're welcome," he said, trying to return to his gruff exterior, "In return you must sing for me tonight. For now I'll leave you...Until tonight, Princess," he bowed slightly. She smiled at him and curtsied in reply,

"Til tonight, your highness," she replied. With his head bowed a little, his eyebrows raised slightly at her slight mock of him as he looked at her through his lashes. The corners of his mouth tugged upward as he turned and left the stables. His hands clenched and unclenched slightly in his own consternation at how she could make him feel so strangely. He was not kind, he told himself, but he wanted to be. With this woman, he suddenly wanted to be everything he was not, everything he hadn't been in such a very long time and the feelings felt so foreign to him.

That evening Rose sang several songs as Adrian sat in front of the fire. She'd found some paper and was attempting to draw him as he sat in his chair, mesmerized by her voice.

"What are you drawing there?" he asked when she'd finished singing.

"Oh just Zephyr, here, see for yourself," she hid the drawing of him and handed him the one of Zephyr.

"It's so lifelike," he marvelled, "that's an excellent job."

"Thank you.." she yawned, "excuse me. Goodness, I think it's time I go to bed, I hadn't realized how tired I really was. If you'll excuse me..." Adrian nodded as she rose and headed towards the stairs.

"One thing before you go, Rose. The keys...choose one and tomorrow morning you may open the room it corresponds to." Rose stopped at the end of the table and surveyed the tray of keys. Adrian moved to stand beside her as she looked them over.

"Hmmm," she mused, trying to decide, "How...about...this one," she pointed to a plain bronze key. Adrian picked it up and handed it to her.

"Very well then, tomorrow you shall see what it opens." Rose yawned again and nodded as she took the key. She squeezed his hand, then with tired eyes mounted the stairs to her room.

"Goodnight Adrian," she said softly.

"Goodnight, Belle," he whispered in reply.


End file.
